In line with the $100 million donated for Accra’s development, the President of 100 Resilient Cities, Michael Berkowitz will be arriving in Ghana next week for a two-day working visit.
The 100 RC President will take advantage of the visit to engage key stakeholders at a workshop to discuss measures to guide Accra prepare for, withstand, and bounce back from chronic stresses and acute shocks.
Giving his thoughts and expectations on the upcoming workshop, Mr Berkowitz said: “Stresses that affect cities include high unemployment; an overtaxed or inefficient public transportation system; endemic violence; or chronic food and water shortages. By addressing both the shocks and the stresses, a city becomes more able to respond to adverse events”.
“The agenda workshop will clarify the city’s needs, surface innovative thinking, and give us a blueprint for engaging partners from across sectors to bring Accra the tools and resources needed to become more resilient”, 100 RC President added.
Mr Berkowitz recounted that on December 3, 2014, Accra was selected as one of the first 32 members of what will ultimately be a 100-city global network, and will receive technical support and resources to develop and implement a resilience strategy.
The workshop to be held on April 7, 2015 at Alisa Hotel in Accra will bring together a range of constituencies including city officials, local businesses, civic groups and academia, to begin developing the city’s resilience plan to identify priorities, actions and metrics as part of a resilience strategy for Accra.
Dr. Alfred Oko Vanderpujie, Accra Metropolitan Chief Executive (MCE) lauded 100 Resilient Cities – Pioneered by the Rockefeller Foundation (100RC) for dedicating to help cities around the world become more resilient to the physical, social and economic challenges.
Dr Vandepujie said developing a comprehensive and resilience plan is particularly important because Ghana’s capital city is faced with shocks such as fires, floods, and stresses such as chronic water shortages, homelessness, unemployment, etc.
By: citifmonline.com/Ghana